'He played well!' - Kalvin Phillips defended by David Moyes despite red card in latest disaster since joining West Ham from Man City

The Hammers crashed to a 2-0 defeat with their Manchester City loanee sent off after picking up two bookings in quick succession with his team trailing by a goal. Pundits and fans were quick to direct their ire at Phillips, who has endured a difficult start to his spell at West Ham, committing costly errors in his first two appearances then featuring in the second half of last weekend's thrashing by Arsenal. Despite the latest setback, Moyes saw some positives from Phillips on the 70 minutes before his dismissal.

"I thought for long periods he played well today," Moyes told Sky Sportsafter the game. "I though Kalvin played well. It looks like he's had a bad start and that adds to it a little bit but overall his performance today was good with just a couple of small incidents.

"I've watched him gain 50 or 60 caps for England, play incredibly well for Leeds United and get a huge transfer to Manchester City. So he's not a bad player, he probably just needs to get back on it and keep going and today he played well."

Moyes made the point that Phillips' second yellow card was harsh and it's hard to not feel a shred of sympathy for the player who played a key role in Marcelo Bielsa's thrilling Leeds revival before being picked up by City with a view to becoming an established part of Pep Guardiola's midfield.

Phillips spoke earlier this week about his sadness at being frozen out at the Etihad and it seems his lacking of playing time is now being punished ruthlessly before he can shake any of that rust off.

West Ham's alarming dip in form has seen them go eight games without a win. And the Hammers fans' frustrations with Moyes has not provided the calmest of environments for Phillips to play his way back into form.

The suspended Phillips will have to sit on the sidelines once again when West Ham seek their first win of 2024 against Brentford at the London Stadium on February 26.